Saturday, March 26, 2011

An Update on the Kyrie Twitter Scandal

Note:I know some people are shocked and appalled that SCSD! is tackling this subject. But at this point, a player was run off twitter, police reports have been filed, and there's the possibility of legal action. It's a story, gang, like it or not. And frankly, it's interesting, and we have something to add.

Last week, during the Duke-Michigan game, a twitter account called DukeLvr1989 was registered. You can read the full story here, but the gist is that the person in question began saying horrible things about Kyrie, specifically referencing his mother, who died when Kyrie was young. Kyrie responded, and eventually de-activated his twitter account. Before he did, though, he sent a text message to an account called "Miss Hawaii," thanking her (sarcastically, it's reasonable to think) for everything that had happened. The account of DukeLvr1989 was eventually deleted. With Kyrie and DukeLvr gone, the collective attention turned to Miss Hawaii.

(As of today, Kyrie Irving is back on twitter. @RealKyrieIrving.)

Black Sports Online ran two pieces on her. First, they showed how she filed a police report accusing Kyrie of harassment in Mecklenberg County, where Charlotte (and the location of Duke's opening games) is located. This post included texts Kyrie had sent her, the so-called evidence of harassment. From these, we learned that her name is Jessica.

Second, they found pictures of Miss Hawaii and a craigslist post offering her services as a prostitute in New York. Jessica, responding on twitter, accused the ex-girlfriend of Lakers rookie Devin Ebanks of fabricating the craigslist post out of jealousy, since she had been involved with Ebanks in the past.

(Confusingly, her twitter name used to be "IHateMissHawaii," and it was changed at some point during this whole process.)

Yesterday, on this blog, a commenter posted a long explanation of the interaction between Jessica, aka Miss Hawaii, and Kyrie Irving. I marked it as spam to keep it under wraps until writing this post. I've now put it back in the comment section where it was originally written. This morning, the comment was re-posted from a location in Louisville, Kentucky. Here it is, in its unedited entirety. I've only added a few paragraph breaks for readability:

This has gone on long enough. This is the story on Kyrie Ivring and the fake model Misshawaii. 18yr old Kryie Ivring met 30yr old misshawaii on the internet through a friend. They built a internet based relationship for about a month.

Kyrie Ivring and the Duke blue devils had a 1st and 2nd round tournament games in Charlotte NC. MissHawaii thought it would be a good idea for her to show up in Charlotte for the she and Kyrie could meet. So Kyrie Ivring was at the Epic center with his father in uptown Charlotte where he saw misshawaii for the first time in person. He talked to her for about 5mins before they parted ways.

Shortly after Misshawaii kept calling and texting Kyrie Ivring phone, he never would pick up or responded to any of her text messages. The reason for him ignoring her was because when he saw her for the first time in person he was simply not attracted to her. She had on probably a full bottle of makeup and she was over weight (to claim to be a model) look as if she possibly could have been a man.

The only thing that Kyrie Ivring did to her was ignored her after meeting her. Later on that day Kyrie Ivring comes out his hotel outside and who is whispering his name signaling Kyrie Ivring to come over to her it was misshawaii. So they stood there for a few minutes and talked after misshawaii caught Kyrie Ivring off guard by popping up outside his hotel. So when the two parted ways again she continued to text and call his phone. Kyrie Ivring continued to focus on the whole reason he was in Charlotte Nc in the first place.

So he ignored her and ignored her…until sunday night out of nowhere a fake twitter page was created @dukeIvr1989. This twitter page attacked kyrie Ivring over and over talking about his deceased mother over and over. And goes on to say things like “u messed with the wrong girl, u shouldnt play with peoples feelings”. She threaten to post text messages and photos of Kyrie Ivring that he sent her. So later the night a friend of Misshawaii let it be known that Misshawaii is the person behind @dukelvr1989 which it did not take a rocket scientist to determined misshawaii was the person harassing Kyrie Ivring after her feelings were hurt because of Kyrie Ivring Ignoring her.

So after Kyrie Ivring caught wind that it was her (misshawaii) behind the twitter page dukeivr1989 he called and texted her trying to ask her was she the person behind the page. She never ever responded or tried to clear her name. So days later she posted text messages from her and Kyrie of him going on her for her being the person behind that fake twitter page dukelvr1989. MissHawaii also threatened Kyrie Ivring on her real twitter page @misshawaii that she would post videos and pics of Kyrie Ivring. The same threats that were made on the fake twitter page @dukeIvr1989.

So bottomline is this is a SAD case of a 30yr old want to be model feelings get hurt after a 18yr old teen simply ignored her after meeting her for the first time in person. She looked very manly and face FULL of caked makeup…and also a big girl. She has never ever met him in person so y is her feelings so hurt off of him dissing her. When I say diss i mean Simply IGNORED HER.

The things that misshawaii were saying about Kyrie Ivring’s deceased mother is flat out heartless. So truth be told you can not blame Kyrie Ivring for texting and calling her after her heartless acts…shes trying to play the victim. Kyrie Ivring is a great great person

Summary:

-Kyrie Irving and Miss Hawaii were introduced online and had an online relationship for about a month.

-She came to Charlotte and found him in town while he was with his father.

-Kyrie Irving wasn't attracted to her and tried to get away after a short conversation.

-He ignored her calls and texts in the aftermath.

-She popped up again outside his hotel. Again, he ignored her after a short conversation.

-Scorned, she created a fake twitter account to harass Kyrie Irving.

-After the DukeLvr account popped up, he tried to contact her and get her to stop, and these texts and calls were the basis of her later harassment accusation.

Now, please let it be known: I unequivocally DO NOT KNOW who this commenter might be. I do not know if the content is true. I don't endorse it in any way.

That being said, it piqued my curiosity. I decided to take a look at the last month of activity on MissHawaii's twitter account in an effort to see how the stories compared.

Here's what I found. I'll be linking the original tweet (inexplicably, Miss Hawaii has not deactivated her account) and also quoting it verbatim in case anything gets deleted after this post goes up.

1 - On Saturday, February 26th, about a month ago, she posted the first reference I found to anything Duke-related: "There's a specific Duke basketball player that makes me think of masturbation every second."

2 - A lot of references to Duke follow. On March 6th, she posts this: "The rain is kinda soothing though ... I should be cupcaking right now with @___________ ... But he's n NC :("

3 - On March 9th, less than two weeks before the start of the tournament, she tweeted a friend in North Carolina: "@BITCH_itsRAY see u in less than two weeks !!!"

4 - On March 10th, this: "All this rain is making me wanna cupcake with my dukey:)"

5 - March 16th: "Omg they just mentioned him on sports centerrrrrrrrrrrrrr *faints*"

6 - On March 17th, the opening day of the tournament, she tweeted this picture of a banner in the TWC Arena in Charlotte: "Woooo hooooooooo ! http://plixi.com/p/84633390"

7 - Later that day, she was at Duke's practice: "At the NCAA practice .. !!"

8 - According to the anonymous commenter above, this was around the time that Miss Hawaii found Kyrie and his dad in Charlotte. A 5-minute conversation transpired. Her texts on Friday the 18th, when Duke played Hampton, are relatively benign. On the 19th, the Saturday, she posted this: "I hate when niggas play bitch games. If you want someone, get them. If you don't want em, let em know. Like what the fuCk son?????"

9 - Followed closely by this quote: "I'm addicted to you, don't you know that your toxic????"

She only tweeted 5 times on Saturday, an aberration from her normally prolific output.

11 - On Sunday, she cheered for Duke on her account. That night, her mood seemed to diminish: "I really wish @Esco_B would answer his phone cuz uh I kinda need my best friend right now ... *blank stare*"

12 - On Monday, she began re-tweeting messages from several online astrologists. They all had a theme of revenge or anger, like this one and this one: "If you betray #Scorpio you will make a most dangerous enemy ♥ #LoveScopes" and "If hurt, a #Scorpio really stings -- and does not forgive easily!"

13 - In the afternoon that day, she began tweeting positive messages about her mother. This was at the same time that the other account, DukeLvr1989, began to attack Kyrie on that same theme. "I love my mother! We had the most awesome convo last night and she is totally my best friend! There's nothin like having a caring mother lol"

14 - Then came thesetwo tweets in the late afternoon: "Yesterday I fell in love .... today feels like my funeral ...." and "The worst thing to do is play with someones feelings. That's just not right ..."

15 - On Tuesday, she filed her police report, citing the "harassing" texts and calls from Kyrie that she received on Monday: "And I juss filed a double police report online .... http://plixi.com/p/86092231"

16 - That same day, she seemed to be headed to Durham: "@MillzMcJagg yes on my way to durham to start trouble lol"

17 - On Wednesday, she claimed to be receiving ongoing texts from someone for whom she had an arrest warrant out: "Its amazing how you put out a warrant for someones arrest and they STILL keep texting you smfh. Just makes my case stronger."

Following this, there were several references to police involvement over the next couple days. She posted texts between herself on Kyrie, both of them threatening the other with legal trouble. These are documented on the BlackSportsOnline links above.

18 - Yesterday, the police theme re-emerged: "Everyone who tweets me, just know your tweets are being recorded and are apart of a police investigation #thatisall"

19 - Today, she gave her endorsement to the movie "Misery," in which a psychotic woman (played by Kathy Bates) kidnaps her favorite author (James Caan) and 'hobbles' him by injuring his feet so he can't escape: "Omg like she really broke his ankles with a sledge hammer! This movie is awesomeeee lmao"

20 - Last, she tweeted evidence of two people posting her cell phone number and encouraging other Duke fans to call her: "You can delete tweets but you can't delete words. #evidence http://plixi.com/p/87090482"

So, that's the timeline. I only post it for comparison's sake, to see how well it dovetails with the anonymous commenter's version of events posted above. Again, I adamantly do not endorse either side of the story. And for the record, Jessica aka MissHawaii has denied any affiliation with DukeLvr1989.

41 comments:

Shane, I really don't want to be that guy. But I had the pleasure of studying at the same journalism school that you now call home, and unlike most of what you've written, this post offends my journalistic sensibilities.

I won't criticize your choice of topic — while it's a bit sensational and probably brings undeserved attention to the issue, it is something that people want to know about, and certainly beats all of the unfounded rumors out there.

My problem is that you're taking one anonymous comment from your blog and reprinting it as "news" without any evidence even suggesting its veracity. True, it does fit the sequence of events, but there's nothing in that timeline that couldn't be put together by anyone with access to the twitter feed (as you proved yourself). Yes, you noted that you don't know who posted the comment, or whether what they said is true. But that's no defense against republishing an unverified rumor. I'm curious, is there anything else about that comment that made you feel that it was worth singling out? It just seems like an unusual move.

All of that said, I should say that I've been reading your blog for a while now, and I've got to say that you're one of the most talented writers I've come across, bar none. I'm a huge fan, and I think you've got a bright future ahead of you. Thanks for the laughs this season.

First, thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it, and I'm glad you're reading.

A couple things. The reason I singled out the comment is that it's the first possible narrative that we've had for this whole thing. Like you and I said, there's no proving its veracity, but at least it's a theory. The fact that it not only takes everything into account but also fits the timeline is significant.

Also, I wouldn't necessarily call this "journalism" and I won't try to defend it as such. I'm just hoping that this step forward will help produce the next step, which will get us even closer to the truth.

Last, you're correct that my piecing together of the twitter timeline could have been done by anyone. But it wasn't. And it certainly wasn't in conjunction with this new theory. Just sayin.'

I tuned into DukeReport.com to get my daily update of my beloved Duke program and clicked on a link under the blog section (for those of you who have yet to peruse the site it never shows what blog you are actually going to, just the title of the article) and in some strange twist of fate, I ended up at TMZ.com. Yes, very strange indeed, but hey, while I'm here, I read somewhere that Lindsay Lohan is dropping her last name. Can you give me the latest scoop on that???

Knew it was coming, willing to take the critique. I think it's a legit story with legal implications, I'm curious, and so I'm writing about it. Just be happy it's posted on a weekend. End of story. Consider this the blanket response for all future commenters questioning whether this should have been posted.

Fair enough. I think you're right about that being the most likely story out there on the subject — I'm just not sure that it's likely enough to warrant publishing it without corroboration. Admittedly, this one is a tough call, since evidence confirming or disproving such theories is going to be nearly impossible to come across.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on whether blogs like this are "journalism". With the death of newspapers and the rest of the old media, I think it's the responsibility of the new media to take up the mantle of journalistic standards. Obviously the purpose and resources of this blog are different than traditional media, but there are some standards that I think ought to be, well, standard. And one of them is that one shouldn't go forward with a story without a good faith belief that what's being reported is the truth. I think the "we report, you decide" model is one of the biggest problems in media today.

Finally, I think you may have misunderstood me. I wasn't criticizing your timeline — I actually thought that was quite useful. My point was that if the best evidence supporting the commenter's story was that it fit the timeline, then that's not terribly persuasive evidence — the commenter could easily have aligned his story with the publicly available account.

Thanks for indulging my news nerdery. Like I said, I hate being the lame journalism guy, but it's always great to have a conversation about important issues like these. Good luck!

Hey Shane, my post wasn't meant as criticism man, just a fun little jab. I read your blog quite often since DR starting linking readers to your site. I may not agree with all that you write or tweet (I'm not a follower, but see your tweets from time to time on DR) but at the end of the day it's your blog and you can write whatever you damn well please. I certainly cannot deny your enthusiasm. On to a more serious matter: LETS GO AZ!! Beat the shit out of Connecticut and Calhoun!! Arizona Kentucky VCU Butler....only way it could minimize the pain from Thursday. FYI: 6 months, 23 days until the official beginning of the 2011-2012 season (CTC) and 7 months, 27 days until the Austin River's Show begins at the EA Sports Maui Invitational!! (4 years ago in 2007 Kyle Sinlger was MVP as a freshman with a championship win over Marquette)

I liked this post, more actual info this time. I think this post was needed as a follow up to the previous one, since that one had too much conjecture and uncertainty in it. Hopefully now she will fall into obscurity again and a third post won't be necessary.

Gossip or not this was an entertaining post, and that's the point of most blogs worth reading.

Mission accomplished. Hang that shit from your aircraft carrier.

I'm pretty sure if Shane was trying to be a super serious journalist on SCSD he wouldn't be super-imposing Ryan Kelly's head on a white raven every other post.

The story reminds me of the episode of the Boondocks "Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf Bitch." Wiki it if you're not familiar with the reference, but the general gist of it is this: Bitches be crazy. It's best Kyrie learns this early before he goes to the NBA and one tries to freeze his sperm, self impregnate, and attempt to collect child support for 18 years.

Oh by the way. Shane, your mancrush is in the final four again. Whenever you're ready to start your grass roots campaign for firing Coach K and picking up Brad Stevens as Duke's new coach I'll be one of the first to jump on board.

hahaha GB, I just found out about the self-impregnating incident.and i have to admit, i went back EVEN FURTHER THAN FEBRUARY 26th on hawaii's twitter. didn't see anything else incriminating. well, all in all i choose to believe this version of events until further evidence comes to light.

This is definitely something I want to know about as a Duke fan. If there are legal charges against any of our players I want to know what it is all about, even if the best source of info is an anonymous source and some rambling incoherent Tweets.

That's the beauty of fan blogs, you can often get the inside scoop weeks before the "official" story is all confirmed and comes out in national media. Sometimes its wrong, but take it for what it is worth. More often than not the smoke matches up with the fire in the end.

This was all happening during some of the biggest games of the year? Nice.

Just hopped over to her twitter profile, and she seems to carry the psychosis forward. In tweets to the wonderfully named "suck_my_johnson" she says "I HATE the word optimistic don't ask me why..." and then a few minutes later "I'm actually not a negative person at all its juss that word reminds me of someone I want to murder violently"

Her blog is extremely creepy. She's probably digging for gold, no question about it.

Kyrie's fault for talking to crazy women like that in the first place. What do you want with a 30 year old woman when your 18? Sounds like he needed some sort of lesson. This a little extreme of a lesson, but all signs on this woman point to trashy.

Original commenter: Shane is writing a personal blog. This is not part of his "vaunted" UNC journalism education. No offense, but Shane could be doing this RIGHT NOW for a living. I know that J school is great--had I chosen UNC over Duke that's what I'd be doing.

I respect that were kind enough to give him kudos, but don't make this about your grad school. He writes for ReeseNews too, you can read his official newspaper model journalism there if you want..."journalistic sensibilities" don't mean much on personal sports blogs...hell, Shane says fuck every third word sometimes.

Thanks for the possible explanation, Shane. We'll see what happens.

-Jake S. Editor of Crazie-Talk.comPart-time writer at the Duke Chronicle

Sorry, that last comment wasn't direct at the original commenter. Just something I want Duke/UNC fans to see so we can all understand why the mass media sucks so much: it's dominated by people who think the DTH is breeding ground for every good journalist in this country.

You know what? I'll take Clay Felker (founder of New York Magazine) and Duke alumnus over anyone from UNC.

Again, not directed at OP, just a personal rant. Duke has NO journalism department (sucks) but it still churns out kids like Ben Cohen '09, who writes for Deadspin and WSJ and is a rising star in this field.

Let me first start by saying that I read this article. I'm highly upset that my name (BITCH_itsRAY) is anywhere in this story. Jessica simply said she would see me in two weeks because she's my cousin and clearly I live in NC and she lives in NY! Please tell me how that tweet has anything to to with it. I would like it removed. If not I will be taking legal action. And btw Jessica is 23 not 30. Dumb ass!

Clearly I was not talking to you. My point is I don't want my name in any of this mess. That's all I ask. As many sweet as she has why would you chose the one with my name. Like I said Jessica OS my cousin and her saying she will see me in two weeks has nothing to do with her and Kyrie. So that was pointless.

This is some thing I must learn about like a Fight it out lover. In case there are legitimate expenses in opposition to some of the people I would like to determine what is going on, get the job done finest supply of data is a good unknown resource and a few incoherent Twitter posts.

Which is the great thing about supporter weblogs, it is possible to have the inside of details days ahead of the "official" account 's all verified along with is released throughout nationwide advertising. At times their completely wrong, nevertheless get it for which it's worthy of. Usually the actual smoke cigarettes fits with the fireplace in the long run.

This is just about all taking place in the course of many of the most significant game titles of this year? Good.

i didn't want to post anonymously - but i decided if anyone is curious about who i am they will ask. I've been following this situation since it began (i'm a duke basketball fan - and i find Kyrie slightly attractive lol) - and i feel as though Miss Hawaii was out to get Kyrie from the beginning. No one records skype conversations unless they are planning to use them against someone in the long run. Also if you were planning to take legal action and intend to be taking seriously i feel like you wouldn't be childish and brag to your followers about filing police reports :/

Gutter Muck Journalism, is Gutter Muck Journalism. All that is required is a second rate want-a-be excuse for a journalist.

I might be more inclined to believe a person that was not accused of child molestation, and bestiality with a geriatric Chihuahua.

We feel the following post from the Chihuahua Don't Ask...Don't Tell blog, warrants a follow-up.

A recent post from the offended Chihuahua is now accusing the phoney "I am not Seth Curry" blogger with RAPE, after he lured her to a secluded dump under the pretense of actually being a legitimate Chihuahua journalist. Only upon her arrival at the secluded dump did she discover the phoney journalist to be a demented under endowed Tar Baby in Drag.

When the feeble 90 year old Chihuahua realized she had been duped by this SCSD TAR BABY PERVERT, she immediately attempted to make her escape on her speedy Hover Round, only to be overtaken and forcibly sodomized by the under endowed Tar Baby.

Later the Rape charges were dropped after the elderly Chihuahua admitted she did not feel a thing from her would be under endowed Tar Baby Rapists pathetic attempt at intercourse.

The Tar Baby Rapist could not be reached for comment, but according to a recent tweet it appears that the Tar Baby Rapist is on the lamb with its new found lover Harrison Barnes, who is known to go by the alias of “I am not Seth Curry”.

WOW! Lashing together a few raw slanderous assumptions, and calling it journalism is real fun, until you wake up and realize your not an under endowed Tar Baby loser pretending to be a real life journalist.

Just because you were not good enough to get in to Duke, is no reason to be hating everyone who was.

Fear not Tar Baby, as long as there is an MSNBC or Fox News your wishful fantasy career as a journalist shall never die.

It would appear that a job is what you will be needing real soon, if you keep posting unfounded slanderous remarks while using the name and image of another in a clear deceptive manner, while concealing your own is a defamation suit waiting to happen.

He got caught up with a money hungry cute bitch. He's made of dollar signs right about now. Dudes gonna get exposed unless y'all ca$h her out. Str8 like that. He's only masterbating! Cmon now, like we all haven't done it... But ch ch ch ch chyea...... Cash her out.. She's a money hungry slut. That what that d0.. Follow meeh @whogo_jugo

This is definitely something I want to know about as a Duke fan. If there are legal charges against any of our players I want to know what it is all about, even if the best source of info is an anonymous source and some rambling incoherent Tweets.